Lana's Eyes
by Prufrock Sheldon II
Summary: In an alternate timeline in which Lana runs after Joe Darke instead of Neil Marshall... Neil, Jake, and Ema grieve at the funeral. Based on the song "Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden. Neil/Lana/Jake.


**A/N: This story takes place in an AU, in which Lana was the one to run off after Joe Darke, and ended up being killed. **

**This is based on "Lily's Eyes" from **_**The Secret Garden**_**. It's a really beautiful song; I highly recommend looking it up before you read this. The story places Neil Marshall as Neville, Jake Marshall as Archibald, Ema Skye as Mary, and Lana Skye as Lily.**

_Italicized =_ Lyrics

**Bold** = changed names

* * *

It was a nice funeral. As nice as they come, at least.

Various work associates had come out of respect for their dear Lana Skye. She had been greatly admired by her coworkers, even Miles Edgeworth, the genius prosecutor who had always acted as though everyone was inferior to him. Somehow, her warmth and kindness had managed to penetrate even the coldest of souls.

-Neil-  
_Strangely quiet, but now the storm__  
__Simply rests to strike again.__  
__Standing, waiting, I think of her.__  
__I think of her._

One by one, people filed out of the cemetery. Their heads bowed down, they shuffled away.

Neil Marshall observed the empty lot. It seemed like an oddly restful place. The trees were bare from the February frost. Neil had a feeling that it would be a long time until spring could come to this place.

Damon Gant—now Chief Gant—had coerced him into doing unspeakable things. Neil gritted his teeth. How was it possible that any of this could happen? Neil couldn't allow anything bad to happen to Ema Skye, his last remaining tie to Lana. And so it began. Gant knew his weakness, and took advantage of it.

Lana Skye…Neil had so very much enjoyed working with her. Her captivating intellect and wit had made her a charming companion to have when assigned any case. She did her job well; it was such a shame that she never had the opportunity to work as a prosecutor. She would have been one of the best.

A muffled sob snapped Neil out of his reverie. Turning in the direction of the noise, he saw Ema, kneeling before her sister's grave. The sight upset him greatly. Lana had once told him about how she was the only family Ema had left, as their parents had died several years ago. Though he started to move toward the small girl, Neil thought better of it. _What would I say?_ he thought. _Lana…what should I say?_

-Jake-  
_Strange, this __**Ema**__, she leaves the room,__  
__Yet remains, She lingers on.__  
__Something stirs me to think of her.__  
__I think of her._

Ema stood up and parted from the grave. Slowly but steadily, she made her way to a nearby park bench and sat, her hands placed neatly in her lap, her head bent downwards. Her shoulders began to shake as small drops of water fell from her eyes.

Jake watched her from afar. He had only met Ema once prior to the SL-9 incident. It was so strange how two siblings could be so alike in their personalities. Ema had the same cheer, the same resolve, as her older sister. The same smile, the same caring manner.

It gave him a strange feeling.

-Neil-  
_From death she casts her spell,__  
__At night we hear her sighs,__  
__And now a girl has come__  
__Who has her eyes._

Ever since Lana had been announced as dead at the crime scene, Neil hadn't been able to escape. He always heard her echoing voice through the halls, her presence remaining beside him, where it was just before the incident.

Neil sighed. _Lana would comfort her in this situation,_ he thought. He slowly made his way toward Ema's bench. She looked up, shrouded in his shadow. "Mr…Marshall?" she asked, hastily wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Neil opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He couldn't say anything. They were all too familiar…

_She has her eyes.__  
__The girl has __**Lana's**__ hazel eyes._

Ema blinked at him uncertainly. Neil silently slumped down beside her. It was strange, this feeling he got just by looking at her eyes. How could they be…the very same?

_Those eyes that saw him happy long ago.__  
__Those eyes that gave him life.__  
__And hope he'd never known.__  
__How can he see the girl__  
__And miss those hazel eyes?_

Neil looked toward Jake. His brother's relationship with Lana had never been a secret. From the moment she stepped into the police office as a detective, they had gotten along well. Very well.

Before she had come, Jake was a solitary being, never wanting to make ties with anyone. As far as Neil knew, he had been the only person Jake really talked to. Until Lana came, that is. Neil could see the new spring in Jake's step the day Lana walked through the door of the precinct.

Neil frowned and looked back at Ema. She was looking away, back down at her feet. Though they were obscure now, Neil knew that Ema…Ema had her eyes.

"Here."

Slowly and softly, he placed his hat on Ema's head, covering her eyes slightly. He gave her a tired, sad, smile. "You can cry now, Ema."

Ema, her face masked by the hat, silently gripped Neil's arm. He could feel her entire body shaking as she released silent sobs. Neil looked away out of respect, and back toward Jake. Jake was staring at the grave, his hands shoved in his pockets. How could Jake not notice Ema's blinding similarity to Lana? Didn't he understand that Ema was all they had left of her?

-Jake-  
_She has her eyes.__  
__The girl has __**Lana's**__ hazel eyes,__  
__Those eyes that closed and left me all alone.__  
__Those eyes I feel will never ever let me go!__  
__How can I see this girl who has her hazel eyes?_

Of course Jake realized that Ema was all he had left. His last chance to make it up to Lana. He just didn't want to look. Looking into Ema's earnest eyes would be just like looking into Lana's. Full of amazement at the fragile beauty of life; full of shock from her loss.

He looked up at the sky. _Her eyes must be full of disappointment. She pro'bly thinks I should have done somethin'…somethin' to save…_ Jake stopped himself from thinking too much. He was a man of action; he usually left the thinking and reasoning to…

A heavy silence seeped throughout the park.

_In __**Lana's**__ eyes a castle__  
__This house seemed to be,__  
__And I, the bravest knight, became,__  
__My lady fair was she._

Jake had never been much of a romantic. He'd typically stayed away from it, not wanting to feel the pain that everyone spoke of. He smiled bitterly. _Guess I'm feelin' the pain now, huh, bambina?_ At first it had just been a close friendship, stemming from their work together. But slowly, Lana grew on him, as he grew on her. They became inseparable. Even after Gant assigned Lana to work with him, Lana still always managed to find time to spend with Jake.

Rumors soon spread, though neither Lana nor Jake seemed interested in quelling them. It didn't really matter, they believed, as long as they could still work together. When Gant tore apart their team, Jake found himself pining for her. Never had he felt so diminished and hopeless in his entire life as the time his Lana had been taken from him.

-Neil-  
_She has her eyes.__  
__She has my __**Lana's**__ hazel eyes.__  
__Those eyes that loved my brother, never me.__  
__Those eyes that never saw me,__  
__Never knew I longed__  
__To hold her close,__  
__To live at last in __**Lana's**__ eyes!_

Neil knew from the start that he hardly had a chance with Lana. His older brother Jake was a man of action; a rugged detective with a gun and an aura of toughness. And although Lana was always kind to Neil, there would always be Jake.

So Neil contented himself with being her associate, nothing more and nothing less, in hopes that, one day, Lana could perhaps tire of Jake—though Neil knew no such thing was possible as Lana was much to kind and earnest to do such a thing—and perhaps see that Neil had always been there for her. Not that he always had; he was never able to get that close to her. But if he had the chance to try again…

-Jake-  
_Imagine me, a lover!_

Jake tipped his hat over his eyes and smiled bitterly. He still found it hard to believe that anyone like Lana could ever care for him, of all people. He took a glance back at his brother, who was still sitting obediently beside Ema.

-Neil-  
_I longed for the day__  
__She'd turn and see me standing there..._

Neil looked away, wishing he could take his hat back to cover in his own eyes.

-Both-  
_Would God have let her stay?_

Neil and Jake's eyes met suddenly. In that brief, fleeting moment, they exchanged volumes of words unspoken.

_She has her eyes.  
__ She has her eyes.  
__She has __**Lana's**__ hazel eyes.  
__My __**Lana's**__ hazel eyes._  
_Those eyes that first I loved so!._  
_ Those eyes that saw me __happy long ago_

Jake slowly walked over to Neil and Ema. He sat himself on the opposite side of Ema, and silently wrapped his rough cowboy poncho around his Lana's younger sister. "Yer gonna get cold if you stay out here much longer," he said softly. Neil blinked in surprise. He'd never heard his brother speak with such warmth, such kindness.

Ema hiccupped. Now covered by Jake's poncho and Neil's hat, she glanced at the two of them. "Th-thank you," she murmured quietly, rubbing her hand nervously.

"Of course, Ema," Neil responded, with an equal amount of warmth and sincerity. "If you need anything…feel free to ask me."

"Or me," said Jake, eying his brother carefully. He looked back down at Ema. "Jus' gimme the word."

"R-really?" Ema stared back and forth at the two brothers incredulously.

Closing his eyes, Neil smiled. He stood up, offering his hand to Ema. "Now, let's get you home before you catch a cold."

Though she hesitated at first, Ema took his hand. Likewise, Jake stood up and placed a weathered hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, bambina." Ema smiled at him.

_How can I now forget __  
__That once I dared to be  
__In love, alive, and whole__  
__In __**Lana's**__ eyes._

As the two brothers walked Ema home, they both thought about their unspoken answer to Ema's 'really?'. They kept quiet, though, for they both knew what the other would say.

_But of course… I'd do anything._

…_For Lana._

* * *

**A/N: This was my first songfic, so I don't know if I wrote it "correctly"…I'd love to hear a review, though! Also, I'm sorry I talked more about Neil than Jake. **


End file.
